Chapter 68: Wow, That Looks Incredibly Satisfying to Cut Down
“So what the hell is Kirishiro thinking?”
The one who finally voiced the question was Taketsuru.
The location wasn’t the suspicious Oamida Shrine that the enigmatic long-term guest, Amagasaki, had mentioned.
Instead, they were a short walk deeper into the forest, gathered beside a gently flowing river whose cool air felt pleasantly refreshing despite the height of summer.
The murmur of the stream echoed softly through the trees, carrying with it a natural chill that made the heat far more bearable. As long as one kept an eye out for mosquitoes, it was an ideal place to spend a lazy summer afternoon.
Miya—the village chief’s granddaughter—had brought them here.
Together with her, Kuwajima and Niwashita had already rolled up their pants and were happily splashing around in the shallow water, laughing as they played in the stream.
Compared to some mysterious shrine with an unsettling name…
This was a place far more fitting for an ordinary university student’s summer vacation.
Which meant…
As expected, none of them had followed Amagasaki’s directions.
More accurately, they had reached the point where they distrusted absolutely everything.
And that suspicion extended…
…even to the supposedly perfectly ordinary university student named Kirishiro Gouto.
“Hmm… this is only my own guess, based on what I’ve pieced together.”
The one answering Taketsuru was Meiko.
With Miya still nearby, she maintained the pleasant, well-mannered demeanor she’d been using around the villagers.
But internally…
The countless strange incidents that had begun around lunchtime were finally beginning to fit together inside her head.
The navigation system abruptly changing destinations.
The car mysteriously stalling.
Her “childhood friend” hearing an inexplicable voice.
Villagers whose friendliness felt just a little too theatrical.
Taken together…
She and Taketsuru had already reached one conclusion.
This was a village performing a role.
What remained uncertain…
Was exactly what role.
There were still important questions without answers.
Who—or what—had manipulated the navigation system?
Who had stopped the engine?
If she trusted what her “childhood friend” had told her…
Those incidents hadn’t been caused by any human hand.
Which left only coincidence…
Or something beyond coincidence.
Yet Meiko knew better than most that this world contained things that defied common sense.
Her own bloodline proved as much.
So did the Hero who had crossed into another world.
So did the friend afflicted by a genuine curse.
Once one accepted that the supernatural truly existed…
Then it wasn’t difficult to imagine the existence of something capable of interfering with car engines, GPS systems…
Even cellphone signals.
Her “childhood friend” had also let one particular phrase slip.
“The god of this land.”
She already knew the villagers were acting.
That much was obvious.
What she didn’t know…
Was whether they were merely pretending to be an eerie Traditional Customs Village…
Or whether this really was a village steeped in sinister traditions, with the villagers simply pretending to be kind.
Those were two entirely different possibilities.
The only thing she could say with confidence…
Was that her “childhood friend” had somehow acquired information far beyond what the rest of them possessed.
And was now acting independently…
After first assuring them that they wouldn’t be in any danger.
“I think… Gouto-kun has shifted his objective. Right now, he’s trying to let everyone except himself enjoy what he considers a perfectly ordinary horror event.”
“What do you mean?”
Taketsuru frowned.
Meiko continued calmly.
“I think Gouto-kun already knows this village’s secrets. Probably all sorts of things by now. Once that happened, he decided he could no longer honestly play the role of ‘an ordinary university student who got caught up in all this without knowing anything.’ So… he removed himself from the stage.”
“…Removed himself from the stage?”
“I mean it in the light novel sense. He stopped being one of the ‘characters.’ He probably concluded that instead of participating in the story himself, it’d feel much closer to one of those perfectly ordinary horror scenarios if we became the protagonists while Gouto-kun operated outside the narrative.”
“So that’s why he insisted on splitting up.”
“Exactly. His whole speech about ‘I’ve learned too much, so I’m leaving while the mystery remains unresolved’ was really just an excuse. There’s absolutely no way he’ll stay gone. If anything…” She smiled wryly. “He’s probably back at the inn right now feeling frustrated because he wanted more time to finish setting everything up.”
The explanation he’d given for separating from them had merely been a convenient pretext.
Someone like her childhood friend would never stop there.
If his goal was to make the “main characters”—namely them—have the most enjoyable experience possible…
Then it made far more sense for him to work behind the scenes.
Which was precisely why Meiko believed their decision to leave the inn together had been the correct one.
At the very least…
It had ruined whatever opening move he’d been planning.
“There’s one thing I honestly don’t get,” Taketsuru said. “What’s in it for him? Why would he bother pulling strings behind the scenes in the first place?”
“…Goodwill?”
“…What?”
His expression clearly said: Does that guy even possess anything resembling goodwill?
Seeing that reaction, Meiko let out a small sigh before answering.
“Gouto-kun isn’t fundamentally a good person or a bad person. But… this is probably just part of his personality. Whenever he notices a problem, if he thinks it’s something that can be solved… he wants to solve it. It’s almost like a compulsion. He can’t stand leaving something unresolved.”
“…Yeah…”
Taketsuru scratched his cheek.
“I… can’t exactly argue with that.”
“I think that’s ultimately why he helped all of us. You, me… Tae-chan…” She smiled faintly. “In the end, it was all for Gouto-kun’s own satisfaction.”
That was Meiko’s assessment of her childhood friend.
Even in Taketsuru’s case…
Originally, Gouto had been perfectly content to leave him alone, so long as it didn’t interfere with his own perfectly ordinary university life.
Only after learning that Taketsuru would eventually die in another world had he redefined it as a “problem” that required solving.
He certainly wanted to save Taketsuru.
But he had also wanted to resolve the issue itself.
The two motivations had existed side by side.
Kuwajima’s case had been similar.
Of course Gouto hadn’t wanted Kuwajima to die.
But what truly bothered him wasn’t Kuwajima’s emotional suffering.
It was the existence of the curse itself.
Removing the curse had taken priority.
Everything that happened afterward had barely interested him.
Her own circumstances had been slightly more complicated.
But even there…
At its core…
His thinking had simply been: “I need Meiko.”
Therefore…
He took whatever actions were necessary to secure her.
It just so happened that solving her personal problems had been the means to accomplish that.
It wasn’t that he particularly enjoyed taking care of people.
Rather…
When something bothered him enough, he simply couldn’t ignore it anymore.
He solved problems because he wanted the discomfort to disappear.
If helping someone happened to be the result…
Then that was perfectly fine.
But helping others was never the primary objective.
The real objective was always solving the problem itself.
Everything he did…
Was ultimately done to preserve the “perfectly ordinary university life” that allowed him to remain…
A perfectly ordinary university student.
At the heart of it all…
His reasoning was simply: “I wanted to solve the problem, so I solved it.”
Dress that thought up in prettier words…
And it became: “Someone else was suffering, so I decided to help them.”
Which most people would simply call…
Goodwill.
“And if I had to guess,” Meiko continued, “the two problems occupying Gouto-kun’s mind right now are… letting us experience a proper summer event… and solving whatever problem this village itself is hiding.”
“He keeps saying that,” Taketsuru replied. “But why is it so important that we experience some stereotypical summer vacation event?”
“Because he probably thinks it’s one of the pieces needed to complete the concept of ‘a perfectly ordinary summer vacation.’ Right now, the biggest project in Gouto-kun’s university life is playing the role of a perfectly ordinary university student.”
“Can somebody… somehow… convince him that pretending to be a perfectly ordinary university student isn’t actually a problem that needs solving?”
“…It’s basically his current obsession,” Meiko admitted with an awkward smile. “I think the important thing is letting him satisfy it first…”
Taketsuru let out a long sigh.
“…Well… I can’t deny I’ve actually had a lot of fun because of him.”
He smiled to himself.
“There was Sumire-neesan. The whole other-world business. If Gouto hadn’t been around…”
He shrugged.
“My university life probably would’ve been a lot more ordinary… and a lot more boring.”
“Exactly.” Meiko nodded. “Honestly, how many university students spend as much time as Gouto-kun seriously thinking about what they should be doing with their university life?”
“…Fair point.”
He laughed helplessly.
“But could he at least stop dragging me into crazy situations without any warning?”
Which incident was he talking about?
At this point…
It was impossible to say.
That was the frustrating thing about Kirishiro Gouto.
He caused an unbelievable amount of trouble…
Yet somehow…
He also made life infinitely more interesting.
“Anyway,” Taketsuru said, steering the conversation back on track. “What do you think he’s doing right now?”
“My guess?” Meiko answered immediately. “He’s enthusiastically preparing a test-of-courage event that’s guaranteed to scare us half to death.”
“…How many villagers do you think are in on it? Were they involved from the beginning?”
“No idea.”
She glanced toward the river.
Miya was still happily splashing around in the water, completely carefree.
Only after making sure the little girl was too far away to overhear did Meiko lower her voice.
“But there’s one thing I’m fairly certain about.”
She spoke almost in a whisper.
“Whether this village is just pretending to be a creepy Traditional Customs Village… or whether there’s genuinely something here…”
She paused.
“…Once Gouto-kun gets inside their circle… he’ll take control of everything in no time.”
Another pause.
“…Honestly, it might be safer to assume that almost everyone in the village is already in the palm of his hand.”
Taketsuru stared blankly.
“…What is that guy?”
Meiko gave a weary smile.
“Gouto-kun is…”
She looked toward the distant mountains before quietly finishing.
“…the ‘Emperor’ who attended an elite academy reserved for the upper class—a school where students studied leadership and statecraft. And he didn’t just bring the students under his control…”
She sighed.
“…He even brought most of the teachers under his rule.”
Taketsuru’s eyes sparkled.
“…Man…”
A grin slowly spread across his face.
“He sounds like he’d be one hell of an opponent to cut down.”
It was a description one might reserve for the final boss of a grand conspiracy.
At the very least…
It wasn’t a description that fit a perfectly ordinary university student found absolutely anywhere.